 Mbira Dzavadzimu in deze (top), Mbira Nyunga Nyunga (bottom), Hosho (bottom left). In Zimbabwean music, the mbira is a musical instrument consisting of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a deze that functions as a resonator. Mbira performances are usually accompanied by hosho. Among the Shona there are three that are very popular (see Shona music). The Mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1524x2032, 694 KB) booImage:Source-of-image Licensing = File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1524x2032, 694 KB) booImage:Source-of-image Licensing = File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
A deze Deze wih an Mbira Dzavadzimu in the typicall configuration In Shona music, a deze is a halved Calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to alplify its sound. ...
A pair of hosho. ...
Zimbabwean music includes folk and pop styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira. ...
A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ...
A deze Deze wih an Mbira Dzavadzimu in the typicall configuration In Shona music, a deze is a halved Calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to alplify its sound. ...
A resonator is a device or part that vibrates (or oscillates) with waves. ...
A pair of hosho. ...
Shona (IPA: ) is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and western Mozambique. ...
Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. ...
Lamellophone (also spelled Lamellaphone) describes any of a family of musical instruments. ...
Types of mbira
Mbira Dzavadzimu In Shona music, the mbira dzavadzimu (or mbira of the ancestors) is a musical instrument that has been used by the Shona people of Zimbabwe for thousands of years. It is often played at religious ceremonies and social gatherings called mabira (sing. bira). The traditional mbira dzavadzimu is usually made up of 22 keys on three different registers, two on the left and one on the right. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 707 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1288 × 1092 pixel, file size: 2. ...
Image File history File links Size of this preview: 707 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1288 × 1092 pixel, file size: 2. ...
Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. ...
Shona (IPA: ) is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and western Mozambique. ...
Construction The mbira dzavadzimu is constructed from 22 to 28 strips of cold or hot forged metal of varying lengths affixed to a hardwood gwariva or soundboard. The gwariva has a hole in the bottom right corner through which the little finger of the right hand is placed while playing, allowing the right thumb and index finger to pluck the high notes from above and below the keys. There are usually several bottle caps, shells or other objects affixed to the soundboard (known as machachara[1]) which create a buzzing sound when the instrument is played. This sound is known to attract the ancestral spirits The sounding board is the largest part of a string musical instruments body. ...
Little finger The little finger, called the pinky in American English from the Dutch word pink, meaning little finger, is the most ulnar and usually smallest finger of the human hand, opposite the thumb, next to the ring finger. ...
A crown cap from a Heineken beer bottle Pull-off bottle cap The plastic cap and top of a sports water bottle. ...
Various seashells Danielle A shell is the hard, rigid outer covering, or integument, allanimals. ...
The keys are arranged in three rows, two on the left and one on the right. The bottom-left row contains the bass keys, the top-left row the middle-range keys and the right row a combination of the secondary bass keys and the high keys. A key is a small rectangular button on a musical instrument that is depressed to cause the instrument to create a sound of a particular pitch. ...
Row may refer to: Row, an argument. ...
Religious and social significance The Mbira Dzavadzimu is very significant in Shona religion and culture, the national instrument of Zimbabwe, and is considered sacred. These religious ceremonies often lasted through the night and were/are called "bira" (singular) or "mabira" (plural). With an enduring history of over 1,500 years, it has been traditionally played at both religious ceremonies and social gatherings, most often when communication with the ancestor spirits is desired or when necessary within the royal Shona Courts. However, the use of Mbira has diversified in modern times. In the ancient days songs for guidance, success in the hunt or battle, or for healing, were prevalent whilst today, one can listen to "new compositions" about love or politics. Shona (IPA: ) is the name collectively given to several groups of people in Zimbabwe and western Mozambique. ...
Playing There is much variation in the specifics of playing the mbira dzavadzimu, but this is the typical method:
The right little finger is placed in the hole in the bottom-right of the soundboard, the middle and ring fingers are placed behind the instrument. This leaves the right thumb and index finger free to play the keys. The left hand is cupped around the left side of the instrument, with all fingers but the thumb placed behind the instrument. Both rows on the left are played with the left thumb by drawing and pressing the thumb down the top of the key, and off the end. This causes the key to vibrate up and down. The first three keys on the right are played with the right thumb in a similar manner. The rest of the keys on the right are played with the right index finger, but unlike with the rest of the keys, the index finger is drawn up to the bottom of the key. Little finger The little finger, called the pinky in American English from the Dutch word pink, meaning little finger, is the most ulnar and usually smallest finger of the human hand, opposite the thumb, next to the ring finger. ...
This article is about the vulgar gesture. ...
The ring finger on this hand is extended. ...
Fingers of the human left hand A finger is a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates. ...
// This digit is one of the five fingers (though the word finger can also refer exclusively to the non-thumb digits). ...
The Index finger The index finger, pointer finger or forefinger is the second digit of a human hand, located between the thumb and the middle finger. ...
Sound The mbira is often placed inside a deze, a large resonator made from a calabash, to amplify its sound. The bottle caps or other objects on both the mbira and deze vibrate when the instrument is played, causing a buzzing sound. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1758x1682, 546 KB) Summary Author: Alex Weeks Image of an Mbira Dzavadzimu in a deze, taken with an Olympus C-770 digital camera on 2005-11-11 Cropped using the GIMP. Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify...
ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1758x1682, 546 KB) Summary Author: Alex Weeks Image of an Mbira Dzavadzimu in a deze, taken with an Olympus C-770 digital camera on 2005-11-11 Cropped using the GIMP. Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify...
A deze Deze wih an Mbira Dzavadzimu in the typicall configuration In Shona music, a deze is a halved Calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to alplify its sound. ...
A deze Deze wih an Mbira Dzavadzimu in the typicall configuration In Shona music, a deze is a halved Calabash gourd in which an Mbira is placed in order to alplify its sound. ...
A resonator is a device or part that vibrates (or oscillates) with waves. ...
Binomial name Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. ...
Tuning Tunings for the mbira vary from family to family. By far, the most common tuning is Nyamaropa. The tuning refers to general interval relationships of the keys, and not to specific pitches. There can be much confusion about different tunings' names, as different families may call one tuning by a different name than another family. For example, Garikai's family plays an "mbira orchestra" that has seven different tunings-each tuning starting on a different starting pitch of the same seven-note scale. Garikai calls his version of "Nyamaropa" the "Nhemamusasa" tuning. There are seven tunings that Garikai uses: Bangidza, Nyamaropa, Nhememusasa, Chakwi, Taireva, Mahoroho, and Mavembe. Other names for tunings are: Dambatsoko-Played by the Mujuru family. The name refers to their ancesteral homeland. Gandanga (also: Mavembe) - Sekuru Gora claims to have invented this tuning at a funeral ceremony. (He calls it Mavembe) He was playing at where the mourners were singing a familiar song with an unfamiliar melody. He went outside the hut and tuned his mbira to match the vocal lines. Other mbira players disagree that he invented it. Dongonda-usually a Nyamaropa tuned mbira with the right side notes the same octave as the left.
Musicians Some notable mbira players include: Richard Bona Richard Bona is a jazz musicican and bassist, was born in 1967 in Minta, in Cameroun, into a family of musicians. ...
Musekiwa Chingodza is a well-known Zimbabwean mbira and marimba player and teacher. ...
Stella Chiweshe (also Stella Rambisai Chiweshe, Stella Rambisai Chiweshe Nekati, or Stella Nekati Chiweshe, b. ...
Chartwell Shorayi Dutiro started playing mbira when he was four at the protected village, Kagande, about two hours drive from Harare where his family was moved by the Salvation Army missionaries during the Chimurenga. ...
Glen Kotche is an American drummer, best known for his involvement in Wilco. ...
Forward Kwenda is one of the most respected mbira performers in Zimbabwe. ...
Cosmas Magaya Cosmas Magaya is a renowned Zimbabwean mbira player and teacher. ...
Chiwoniso Maraire (Born in 1976 in Olympia, Washington, USA) is an accomplished young singer, songwriter, exponent of East African and Zimbabwean mbira music. ...
Dumisani Maraire (1944-1999), known to friends as Dumi, was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. ...
Ephat Mujuru (1950-2001), a Zimbabwean musician, was one of the 20th centurys finest players of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. ...
Imogen Heap (born December 9, 1977) is a Grammy-nominated English singer-songwriter from Essex, most famous for her work as part of Frou Frou and for her 2005 solo record Speak for Yourself. ...
Mbira Nyunga Nyunga The Mbira Nyunga Nyunga is similar in construction to the Mbira Dzavadzimu, but has fewer keys, in two rows, and no hole in the soundboard. Key pitch radiates out from the center, rather than left to right. It is typically played by holding both sides of the instrument in one's hands. Dumisani Maraire brought awareness of this instrument to the United States when he came to the University of Washington as a visiting artist from 1968-1972. Dumisani Maraire (1944-1999), known to friends as Dumi, was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. ...
Mbira music To many people Mbira music appears extremely repetitive, or cyclical. However, in most Mbira music, there are minute variations, suggestive of the minimalist movement in western music (for example Philip Glass et al). Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features and core self expression. ...
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
As with all African music, rhythm plays an important part. The rhythms are often quite intricate and to some extent dictate the form of the melody. For the popular Tamil film, see Rhythm (film) Rhythm (Greek = flow, or in Modern Greek, style) is the variation of the length and accentuation of a series of sounds or other events. ...
Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
Shona mbira music Generally, each mbira piece can be divided into four sections of twelve pulses each, although there are songs that divide into nine or eight pulses as well. Andrew Tracey refers to each cycle as a chara[2], which translates as "version", but literally means "fingering" or "thumb". Andrew Tracey is a twentieth-century ethnomusicologist specializing in the collection of African music. ...
Bantu is a language family that belongs to the Niger-Congo group. ...
Traditional Shona Mbira music is typically composed to two different parts, the Kushaura (meaning "to lead" or "to start") and the Kutsinhira (meaning "to follow"[3]). Each part is played on two different mbiras, with the kushaura often being the more simple part, and the kutsinhira more complicated (though this is not always the case). In Shona music, the kushaura is the leading part. ...
In Shona music, the kutsinhira is the following part. ...
Shona songs[1] - Kariga Mombe
- means "taking the bull by the horns," or "undefeatable" and is a good first piece to learn because of its relative simplicity.
- with its simultaneous plucking of both the upper and middle registers in a steady beat, it becomes easy to play, but challenging to properly count: it gives the feel of a two pulse (six counts of two pulses), but is traditionally played as three (four counts of three pulses) causing the beat to fall in between the notes every other time.
- a derivative of the older song nyamaropa.
- For North American students of the mbira, this song is often widely considered to be the first song taught to beginners
- Mahororo
- named after a small river in Zimbabwe, used to welcome hunters home after long hunts (according to Stella Chiweshe).
- word means "Baboons' voices," or "Freedom following victorious struggle" (according to Forward Kwenda).
- also a derivative of the older song nyamaropa.
- Nyamaropa
- literally means "meat and blood."
- it is considered among the oldest of mbira music. According to Berliner it was the first piece composed for the instrument.
- although it may have originally been a song to prepare for battle, it is now considered a hunting song.
- Nhemamusasa
- translates as "temporary shelter." A musasa is a shelter hunters would build while away from their homes.[3]
- like nyamaropa this song was also once associated with war, but is now used as a hunting song.
- the tonal center of this song is a fourth above the lowest note on the mbira.
- Kuzanga
- according to B. Michael Williams[1], a Shona man named Chartwell Dutiro explains that the title means "to thread beads," and states it is a "song about an old woman who stays in the forest alone, making beads for her ancestors. For the old woman, making beads for the ancestors is living happily and free from fear."
- although the tonal center and harmonic structure are similar to dande, kuzanga only has nine pulses per section, instead of the twelve.
- Taireva
- the title of this song can be translated a number of ways: "we used to tell you," "we shall speak out," "I have said it," "we were talking," "I once said it," and "don't say I didn't warn you."
- it is reported to express the importance of what is on your mind, and listening to your elders.
- also a derivation of nyamaropa
- The harmonic progression of this song, shifted to a minor key, provides the basis for the Chimurenga song Nyoka Musango by Thomas Mapfumo.
- Vadzimu
- This is a version of nyamaropa (whose name means "spirits") played by the contemporary Shona musician Fabio Chivhanda. Also known more generically as "Nyamaropa yaChivhanda" which literally means "Chivhanda's Nyamaropa."
- Bangidza or Bangiza
- the title can be taken to mean "show," or "spiritual vibes," and is understood to be a very ancient spiritual song.
- Erica Azim reports this song as dating back to the 14th-16th century, during the time of Mwena Mutapa (or Great Zimbabwe).
- Marenje
- a song typically played on the gandanga (mavembe) tuning of the mbira (as is Ngozi ye Muroora).
Stella Chiweshe (also Stella Rambisai Chiweshe, Stella Rambisai Chiweshe Nekati, or Stella Nekati Chiweshe, b. ...
Forward Kwenda is one of the most respected mbira performers in Zimbabwe. ...
Paul Berliner is an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist, best known for specializing in African Music as well as Jazz and other improvizational systems. ...
Chartwell Shorayi Dutiro started playing mbira when he was four at the protected village, Kagande, about two hours drive from Harare where his family was moved by the Salvation Army missionaries during the Chimurenga. ...
Chimurenga music is a Zimbabwean popular music genre coined by and popularised by Thomas Mapfumo. ...
Thomas Mapfumo is a Zimbabwean musician known as The Lion of Zimbabwe for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music. ...
Erica Azim is one of the leading western authorities on, and practitioners of, Zimbabwean mbira music. ...
This is the history of Zimbabwe, a country in southern Africa. ...
Gallery ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1498x1678, 459 KB) Summary Author: Alex Weeks Image of an Mbira Dzavadzimu, taken with an Olympus C-770 digital camera on 2005-11-13 Cropped and perspective adjusted using the GIMP. Licensing Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify...
from fr:Image:Sanza. ...
ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (1722x1660, 639 KB) Summary Author: Alex Weeks Image of an Mbira Dzavadzimu, taken with an Olympus C-770 digital camera on 2005-11-11. ...
Recordings - Nonesuch Explorer Series 79703-2, Zimbabwe: The African Mbira: Music of the Shona People (2002). Liner notes by Robert Garfias (1971).
- Nonesuch Explorer Series 79704 Zimbabwe: The Soul of Mbira: Traditions of the Shona People (1973). Produced by Paul Berliner
- Konono N°1 Congotronics (2004). See also the corresponding Amazon listing. Contemporary recording of traditional Congolese sanza mbira (i.e. likembe) from Kinshasa, played with [diy] amplification, and gained the attention of the western world music press in 2005.
- Musical instruments 2: (LP) Reeds (Mbira). (1972) The Music of Africa series. 1 LP disc. 33⅓ rpm. mono. 12 in. Recorded by Hugh Tracey. Kaleidophone, KMA 2.
- Mbira Music of Rhodesia, Performed by Abram Dumisani Maraire. (1972). Seattle: University of Washington Press, Ethnic Music Series. Garfias, R. (Ed.). 1 LP disc. 33⅓ rpm. mono. 12 in. UWP-1001. This disc features Maraire exclusively on Nyunga Nyunga mbira. A 12-page booklet by Maraire is included, describing the background, composition, and performance of nyunga-nyunga mbira music.
- A mbira was played by Jamie Muir in the introduction of King Crimson's Larks's Tongues in Aspic Pt. I.
Paul Berliner is an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist, best known for specializing in African Music as well as Jazz and other improvizational systems. ...
Konono N°1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...
World music is, most generally, all the music in the world. ...
Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. ...
Dumisani Maraire (1944-1999), known to friends as Dumi, was a master performer of the mbira, a traditional instrument of the Shona ethnic group of Zimbabwe. ...
See also Chimurenga music is a Zimbabwean popular music genre coined by and popularised by Thomas Mapfumo. ...
For the Japanese aircraft carrier see Hosho. ...
Lamellophone (also spelled Lamellaphone) describes any of a family of musical instruments. ...
Mal Webb, born in Melbourne in 1966, is currently a major figure in the Australian Folk Scene. ...
Marimbula MarÃmbula (a member of the Mbira family of instruments, first created by Queen Marimba of the Wakamba), pronounced mah-REAM-boo-lah, is a folk musical instrument of Caribbean Islands. ...
Hand drumming has a significant role in African music]] African music is as vast and varied as the continents many nations and ethnic groups, so a general description of African music is not possible. ...
Zambia has a rich heritage of music which falls roughly into three categories: traditional, popular and Christian. ...
Zimbabwean music includes folk and pop styles, much of it based on the well-known instrument the mbira. ...
Shona music is the music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. ...
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. ...
The Array Mbira is a modern instrument coming down from African Thumb piano class/family, usually played by the thumbs and sometimes fingers commonly using metal tines. ...
References - ^ a b c Williams, B. Michael. (2001) Learning Mbira: A Beginning. Everett, PA: HoneyRock. ISBN 0-9634060-4-3
- ^ Tracey, Andrew. (1970). How to play the mbira (dza vadzimu). Roodepoort, Transvaal, South Africa: International Library of African Music.
- ^ a b Berliner, Paul. (1978). The Soul of Mbira: music and traditions of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Berkeley : University of California Press.
- Howard, Joseph H. (1967). Drums in the Americas. New York: Oak Publications.
- Mutwa, Credo Vusa'mazulu. (1969). My people : the incredible writings of Credo Vusa'mazulu Mutwa. Johannesburg : Blue Crane Books, 1969.
- Tracey, Andrew. (1970). The Matepe Mbira Music of Rhodesia. Journal of the African Music Society, IV: 4, 37-61. (Note: this article is the original source of the Matepe song Siti, as played by Zimbabwean Marimba band Musango.)
- Tracey, Hugh. (1961). The evolution of African music and its function in the present day. Johannesburg: Institute for the Study of Man in Africa.
- Tracey, Hugh. (1969). The Mbira class of African Instruments in Rhodesia (1932). African Music Society Journal, 4:3, 78-95.
Paul Berliner is an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist, best known for specializing in African Music as well as Jazz and other improvizational systems. ...
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. ...
Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. ...
Hugh Tracey was an important twentieth century ethnomusicologist. ...
External links
General
Organizations Erica Azim is one of the leading western authorities on, and practitioners of, Zimbabwean mbira music. ...
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern California, in the United States. ...
Festivals
Articles The Acoustical Society of America is an international scientific society dedicated to increasing and diffusing the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. ...
Soloists and ensembles - Yeshe, German-born Australian mbira players
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